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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Love Offering Podcast. I'm your host Rachel Adams,

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Speaker 2: author of every Day Prayers for Love, Learning to Love God, others,

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Speaker 2: and even yourself. Each week we dive into meaningful conversations

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Speaker 2: about how to live out the greatest commandment, living God

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Speaker 2: with all our heart's soul, mind and strength, and loving

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Speaker 2: our neighbors as ourselves, whether through inspiring stories, practical wisdom,

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Speaker 2: or biblical truth. My hope is to encourage you to

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Speaker 2: love boldly, live faithfully, and reflect God's love in your

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Speaker 2: everyday life. Today, I'm honored to welcome Lisa Appolo to

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Speaker 2: the show. Lisa is the author of God of Comfort

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Speaker 2: and a woman whose story beautifully reflects God's sustaining grace

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Speaker 2: in the midst of devastating loss. After suddenly losing her

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Speaker 2: beloved husband, Dan, Lisa found herself raising seven children on

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Speaker 2: her own while navigating unimaginable grief. Through her own journey

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Speaker 2: of heartbreak and healing, she now encourages others who are

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Speaker 2: walking through suffering, reminding them that God meets us tenderly

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Speaker 2: in our pain and faithfully carries us through every season

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Speaker 2: of loss. Her words off for hope, honesty, and practical

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Speaker 2: encouragement for anyone longing to experience God's comfort in difficult days. Well, hello, Lisa,

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Speaker 2: and welcome back to the Love Offering Podcast. I'm so

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Speaker 2: happy to talk with you again.

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Speaker 1: It's good to be back with you, Rachel.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it's been a while. And so just if people

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Speaker 2: don't know you were or didn't listen to the last

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Speaker 2: time that you were on, can you tell us about

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Speaker 2: Dan in that season of your life, your life together

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Speaker 2: and then what transpired, sir.

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Speaker 1: So, I met Dan in seventh grade. He was Danny Appolo,

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Speaker 1: another another boy, big boy across the room, and of course,

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Speaker 1: you know, he was just another boy and youth group

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Speaker 1: at that point. But by high school we had become

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Speaker 1: very good friends, and by our junior year of high

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Speaker 1: school we were dating. He was my only boyfriend and

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Speaker 1: I really thought, Okay, this is the rest of my life.

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Speaker 1: And we got married in college and life was not

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Speaker 1: perfect by any stretcher would never paint life as perfect.

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Speaker 1: And we had struggles in our marriage, We had financial struggles,

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Speaker 1: we were learning how to parent and went through things

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Speaker 1: with that. But it was the life that I wanted. It

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Speaker 1: was the life that I had worked hard for and

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Speaker 1: so on a very ordinary Thursday night, we had pizza

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Speaker 1: together as a family. It was Father's Day weekend. It

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Speaker 1: was a busy season. I had kids from four years

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Speaker 1: old all the way up to nineteen years old, and

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Speaker 1: I was just kind of the hub of the wheel,

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Speaker 1: getting everyone where they were going, making sure our family

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Speaker 1: was going, that we had a good rhythm. And after dinner,

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Speaker 1: you know, the kids are going up to bed, and

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Speaker 1: I needed to get to bed early because I had

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Speaker 1: a big day the next day. And I looked at

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Speaker 1: Dan and said goodnight, like I had a thousand other times.

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Speaker 1: He was going to stay up and do some work.

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Speaker 1: And the next morning, before it was even light, I

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Speaker 1: woke up to his strange breathing on the pillow next

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Speaker 1: to me. And within a few hours, I a very

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Speaker 1: kind your doctor took me into that room you never

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Speaker 1: want to go into. And so they had worked on

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Speaker 1: Dan for over two hours. He had had a cardiac

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Speaker 1: arrest and they had never been able to revive him.

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Speaker 1: And so that was it, no sign, no symptom that

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Speaker 1: anything was going on. That was an underlying heart condition

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Speaker 1: we did not know about, and that could have been treated,

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Speaker 1: likely could have been treated. And so that was it.

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Speaker 1: Life kind of divided that Father's Day weekend between before

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Speaker 1: and after, and I found myself in the midst of

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Speaker 1: deep grief, not only for myself but navigating my seven

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Speaker 1: children through theirs.

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Speaker 2: Talked to us a little bit about that overnight your

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Speaker 2: life completely changes. You lose the love of your life,

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Speaker 2: your spouse, the father of your children. You're feeling the

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Speaker 2: emotional weight of it, the financial weight of it, just

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Speaker 2: the reality of life still has to go on even

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Speaker 2: without this person. And then I'm trying to be strong,

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Speaker 2: even for my seven children who are also grieving like

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Speaker 2: that just is so complicated, right, for lack of a

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Speaker 2: better word, that's not even probably the right word. No,

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Speaker 2: that's actually a great word. It is overwhelming in every sense.

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Speaker 1: You're right. The financial piece is a part of it,

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Speaker 1: because we were a single income family and that income

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Speaker 1: was God and I had very real fears about how

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Speaker 1: in the world God was going to provide for our

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Speaker 1: family and get them all the way through college and launch.

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Speaker 1: Of course, there were the health concerns for my children.

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Speaker 1: There was the will they act out in this, how

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Speaker 1: will they react in their grief. I didn't even know

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Speaker 1: how to grief. I had never had any kind of experience,

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Speaker 1: which I think most of us arrived to deep grief

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Speaker 1: like this. There's no course that can prepare us for this,

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Speaker 1: and so I found myself just trying to first get

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Speaker 1: my feet to the floor. That was the hardest part,

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Speaker 1: wake up, you know, and leaving the nightmare all over again,

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Speaker 1: that this is now my life. Get my feet to

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Speaker 1: four to the floor. My kids have already lost one parent,

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Speaker 1: they cannot lose two. And then trying to you're right,

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Speaker 1: get enough hope for myself that day, so that I

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Speaker 1: could show up for my children and help them through

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Speaker 1: their grief and in their life. Yeah, turning to God

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Speaker 1: was the only way that I could make it through. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Well, I can't wait to continue today's conversation, but we're

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Speaker 2: going to take a brief break to hear a word

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Speaker 2: from our sponsor, and we when to come back. We'll

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Speaker 2: talk about how God meets us in grief, heal power

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Speaker 2: of reflection and journaling, and the hope Lisa now offers

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Speaker 2: others through her ministry and writing.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back.

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Speaker 2: I'm talking with Lisa Epplow about her devotional God of Comfort.

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Speaker 2: So what were some of the most difficult aspects of

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Speaker 2: rebuilding life and finding your footing again after such a

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Speaker 2: devastating loss.

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Speaker 1: I think one of the hardest things in loss is

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Speaker 1: fighting for a future. The future that you always thought

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Speaker 1: would be there is gone, and you can't even begin

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Speaker 1: to imagine that future, much less desire it because the

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Speaker 1: person that you thought you would live life with, whether

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Speaker 1: that's a child or a parent of sibling, I mean,

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Speaker 1: there's so many ways we can experience loss. That person

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Speaker 1: is not in that future, and so it's fighting to

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Speaker 1: for hope. And of course God is our hope, but

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Speaker 1: we also have to cling to that before it's actually

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Speaker 1: a reality, before we feel it. We have to cling

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Speaker 1: to the truth of God as a reality before we

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Speaker 1: actually our heart catches up to that truth.

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Speaker 2: In those early days of grief, were there particular people

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Speaker 2: or scriptures or active kindness that became lifelines for you.

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Speaker 1: There were definitely scriptures. Every morning, I'll kind of get

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Speaker 1: my kids started for the day, and because I had

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Speaker 1: a couple older ones in the home, I could get

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Speaker 1: away in my minivan. I say, some people have a

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Speaker 1: prayer clauset, I have a minivan and I would get

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Speaker 1: away open the word. I wasn't searching for scripture. I

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Speaker 1: had started a reading plan for the year, and soever

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Speaker 1: that plan gave me, that's where I read. And God's

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Speaker 1: hope was on every page, because it was either reminded

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Speaker 1: me of his character or his promises, and it was

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Speaker 1: enough to take back into the home and show it

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Speaker 1: for my parents. I think one of the scriptures that

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Speaker 1: I prayed in advance was Psalm one twenty six, which

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Speaker 1: is a psalm of a sense, and it says when

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Speaker 1: the Lore brought back the captives design they were like

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Speaker 1: men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, something

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Speaker 1: like our our mouths with songs of joy. And then

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Speaker 1: at the end of the psalm, it's a short sum

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Speaker 1: that says those who so in tears will reap with

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Speaker 1: sheeves of joy. That's my paraphrase what I promise to us,

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Speaker 1: that the same God who brought back the Israels from

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Speaker 1: their utter despondency and despair and showed them that all

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Speaker 1: that they sowed in tears he would bring back with

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Speaker 1: sheaves of joy. That is our God too. And so

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Speaker 1: again that doesn't happen overnight. I mean, there's a lot

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Speaker 1: of grief that we have to slog through. We can

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Speaker 1: hope in grief. We can grieve with hopes as Christians,

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Speaker 1: but we still grieve, and so to cling to those

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Speaker 1: scriptures before we see that reality in our life was huge. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I love that promise and the fact that it says

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Speaker 2: that Jesus even wept and he is familiar with that

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Speaker 2: kind of emotion, and that he collects our tears in

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Speaker 2: a bottle. Like that's the kind of God that we serve.

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Speaker 2: He wants to be our comfort and to be present

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Speaker 2: with us in our pain. I haven't lost a spouse,

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Speaker 2: but we all experience grief in some capacity, and so

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Speaker 2: maybe for the woman listening right now, it's like I

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Speaker 2: haven't experienced exactly what Lisa has experienced, and maybe there

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Speaker 2: is somebody that has experienced something similar to what you've

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Speaker 2: been describing, but just realizing that we can go to

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Speaker 2: God at any time and He is available to and

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Speaker 2: will comfort us through whatever we're going through.

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Speaker 1: In a very palpable, present way. He will. Psalm thirty

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Speaker 1: four says God is close or near to the broken hearted,

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Speaker 1: and some people feel that I certainly felt that. I

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Speaker 1: felt like that verse is almost an understatement. But I

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Speaker 1: know there are people listening who are like, well, I'm

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Speaker 1: not feeling that, Like God actually feels distant right now

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Speaker 1: and nothing is connecting when I get into scripture, and

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Speaker 1: I just want to say, like, that is the truth

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Speaker 1: that God is close to us, is there, whether we

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Speaker 1: feel it or not. And sometimes the grief is so overwhelming.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes we're so in that fog of grief. Sometimes we're

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Speaker 1: so overcome by the sadness that we don't feel the Lord.

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Speaker 1: But know that that is true. And I would say

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Speaker 1: to look for his hand, look for his hand all

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Speaker 1: around you.

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Speaker 2: One of the aspects of your devotional is the intentional

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Speaker 2: space that you give readers to process and write through

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Speaker 2: their grief. So how have you personally seen journaling help

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Speaker 2: bring healing and clarity in seasons of sorrow?

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Speaker 1: General is huge. Science is now of course telling us

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Speaker 1: all the benefits of journaling and grief journaling journaling specifically,

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Speaker 1: but you know, the Bible already told us that, not specifically.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't say anything about grief journaling. But the psalms

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Speaker 1: have laments in them, which are written psalms which are

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Speaker 1: like the grief journaling that David did and the Psalmist did.

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Speaker 1: And so we have the Bible as an example of

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Speaker 1: being able to cry out to God. Grief. Journaling helps

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Speaker 1: us unpack things that we don't even know that we're carrying,

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Speaker 1: helps us unpack our mind and our heart from grief

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Speaker 1: that is too heavy for us to carry. And it's

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Speaker 1: never just a one and done. That practice of whether

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Speaker 1: it's daily or a few times a week, or when

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Speaker 1: we're feeling just completely overwhelmed, being able to write it

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Speaker 1: out is a practice where we can give that to God,

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Speaker 1: like unburden our heart, give it to God, leave it

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Speaker 1: with him, and then take his comfort and his trust

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Speaker 1: that he is walking us through this.

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Speaker 2: You know, we're saying God is a god of comfort.

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Speaker 2: But maybe for someone listening today, they're thinking, I'm angry

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Speaker 2: at God, almost blaming him for what they are grieving

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Speaker 2: right now. How would you help them shift their perspective?

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Speaker 1: Yes, anger is not always a part of grief. I

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Speaker 1: know that there are some constructs that would say there

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Speaker 1: are stages of grief and one of those is anger.

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Speaker 1: And I want to say that there are not stages

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Speaker 1: of grief, and anger isn't always a part of it,

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Speaker 1: but it is often a part of it. And so

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Speaker 1: I would say to that, to that person, who's listening,

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Speaker 1: that God did not cause this, that it wasn't his idea.

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Speaker 1: Death was not God's idea. Death is a result of

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Speaker 1: the fall. And really are rebellion against God. And until

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Speaker 1: we go to heaven, you know, we're going to live

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Speaker 1: in a world that is filled with disease and divorce

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Speaker 1: and death. But God is not a far off God.

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Speaker 1: Instead of staying often saying you brought this on you

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Speaker 1: all rebelled against me, he comes close to us. And

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Speaker 1: more than that, he made a way for He overcame death.

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Speaker 1: You know, Jesus is death on the cross. He came

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Speaker 1: in our place to pay for our sins so that

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Speaker 1: we would have him, not only this side of eternity,

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Speaker 1: that we would spend eternity, which is far more than

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Speaker 1: the thirty eight years or eighteen years or eighty eight

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Speaker 1: years we get on earth. We would spend eternity with

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Speaker 1: him never again, no more tears, no more crying, no

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Speaker 1: more pain, no more death.

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Speaker 2: I know we should go to God and that he

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Speaker 2: will comfort us. And he comforts us perfectly. And I'm

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Speaker 2: just thinking about Job, the story of Job and how people,

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Speaker 2: when he experienced so much grief, people did try to

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Speaker 2: come and be his hands and feet, and that is valuable,

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Speaker 2: and we need relationships, we need community, but in many

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Speaker 2: ways it wasn't enough. Like God is truly the only

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Speaker 2: one who can truly meet all of our needs? Have

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Speaker 2: you found that to be true? That people number one?

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Speaker 2: I guess that people came alongside you, which was important.

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Speaker 2: But then at the end of the day, like God

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Speaker 2: is the only one.

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Speaker 1: Yes, I've seen that true, not only for myself, but

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Speaker 1: for so many people that I've walked with in grief.

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Speaker 1: And Minister two. God is our He promises that he

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Speaker 1: heals the broken hearted in Psalm one forty seven three.

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Speaker 1: And most of that healing we will experience this side

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Speaker 1: of eternity. All the fullness, the wholeness will not come

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Speaker 1: until we are with him, right, I mean, we will

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Speaker 1: always forever miss Dan at every meal, at every milestone,

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Speaker 1: at every Christmas, we will miss him being with us.

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Speaker 1: And so it's never that we say, oh, that's all

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Speaker 1: wrapped up, there's a bow on it. We can go on.

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Speaker 1: But if we will lean into him, and if we

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Speaker 1: will trust him when we don't understand, and we may

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Speaker 1: never understand, we may never get our questions answered of

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Speaker 1: why or why this person. But if we were trust

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Speaker 1: him that he still has good for us, and he

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Speaker 1: still has life for us, and that he brings good

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Speaker 1: from all things, and that he has purpose in every

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Speaker 1: ounce of our pain, then we can see him heal us.

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Speaker 1: There are parts of us that only God knows. God

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Speaker 1: designed us right, and so he who designed our heart

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Speaker 1: and knows what it is to experience pain, more than

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Speaker 1: any of us ever will, knows how to heal our

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Speaker 1: broken heart.

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Speaker 2: Jesus knows what it feels like to be rejected and betrayed,

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Speaker 2: and he was crucified. Jesus was crucified for us, So

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Speaker 2: you're right, he does know what pain is in anguish

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Speaker 2: and his heart crying out to God like I don't

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Speaker 2: want to go through this, but yet your will be done?

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Speaker 2: Does that evoke any thought in you?

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, I mean all of us when you were walking

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Speaker 1: through a loss, there is that place where we know

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Speaker 1: that God was able. Probably we all cried out in prayer.

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Speaker 1: I know I did, even though I know Dan didn't

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Speaker 1: have a long illness, But man, I paced my living

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Speaker 1: room while they were working on him in the other room.

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Speaker 1: I cried out for God's mercy and to me that

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Speaker 1: mercy meant that God would save him, that he would

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Speaker 1: have a short stint in the hospital, he would come back,

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Speaker 1: he would continue being the father and the husband, and

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Speaker 1: the friend and the employee that he was. But that's

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Speaker 1: not how God answered that prayer. What I found out

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Speaker 1: later was that God's mercy can in a hundred other ways.

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Speaker 1: It came through community, He showed up for us. It

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Speaker 1: came through his sustaining grace on evenings when I thought

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Speaker 1: loneliness would just be the death of me. It came

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Speaker 1: from restoring my hope. It came from honestly, moments this

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Speaker 1: side of Dan's loss. I never would have but for

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Speaker 1: Dan's loss. And that is that's paradoxical to talk about

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Speaker 1: that walking with others, that seeing God use this pain

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Speaker 1: would never be part of it. I would never know

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Speaker 1: God in the intimate way that I know him. I

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Speaker 1: would never have seen him be my wisdom and my

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Speaker 1: guide and my healer and my comfort had I not

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Speaker 1: been a place to need his wisdom and guidance and comfort.

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Speaker 1: And that part I would never never trade, I would

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Speaker 1: never give back.

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Speaker 2: Scripture also tells us that we are to comfort as

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Speaker 2: we have been comforted. There's this beautiful full circle moment.

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Speaker 2: Maybe for lack of a better word, for you, that

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Speaker 2: you are comforting others now and leading others to the

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Speaker 2: only comforter, big sea comforter in the Lord. And I

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Speaker 2: think that's so beautiful. How you're using your testimony. So

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Speaker 2: talk to us about that. How after we have experienced

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Speaker 2: great grief and have been comforted by the Lord, how

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Speaker 2: he then in turn can go and comfort others.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, there's two things I want to say about this,

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Speaker 1: because this is so important. One is it doesn't have

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Speaker 1: to be in a big way. You don't have to

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Speaker 1: have established some big ministry. I mean, Goodness knows that

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Speaker 1: in the first months or even years of Dan's death,

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Speaker 1: I wasn't thinking I'm going to write a book. I

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Speaker 1: was trying to survive. I was trying to help my children.

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Speaker 1: But somewhere in there God reshaped my broken heart, and

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Speaker 1: he began to connect me with other women who were

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Speaker 1: also going through loss, and so in that I was

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Speaker 1: able because I was a few steps ahead. I was

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Speaker 1: able to reach back and assure them that God would

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Speaker 1: be there with them. I could listen to them, I

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Speaker 1: could understand in ways maybe somebody who hadn't experienced. This

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Speaker 1: could not that what I said could fix anything, but

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Speaker 1: I could point them to God who would be with

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Speaker 1: them in their pain. But the second thing I would

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Speaker 1: say about comforting others is this, don't have to have

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Speaker 1: experienced that precise pain to meet somebody in their pain.

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Speaker 1: So and I saw this in the first weeks and

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Speaker 1: months of my own loss, the people who came and

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Speaker 1: showed up for me. I was surprised by the people

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Speaker 1: who came and showed up for me. They weren't widows,

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Speaker 1: They had not experienced this material loss, but they had

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Speaker 1: experienced some kind of pain. They had gone through something

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Speaker 1: in their life where they had seen God comfort them,

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Speaker 1: and out of that place they were able to turn

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Speaker 1: around and comfort somebody else. Well.

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Speaker 2: I can't wait to continue today's conversation, but we're going

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Speaker 2: to take another brief break to hear a word from

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Speaker 2: our sponsor, and when we come back, we'll talk about

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Speaker 2: finding hope again, carrying grief and joy together, and how

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Speaker 2: suffering can deepen our love for God and others. Welcome back.

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Speaker 2: I am talking with Lisa Epelo about her book God

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Speaker 2: of Comfort, and so, Lisa, for the woman listening today

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Speaker 2: who maybe in the early disorienting days of loss. What

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Speaker 2: do you want her to hear? What do you most

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Speaker 2: want her to know about God's heart towards her.

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Speaker 1: That he sees her, that he understands her pain, that

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Speaker 1: she doesn't have to fake that she's fine or show

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Speaker 1: up all put together. She can come very honestly and

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Speaker 1: cry out to God. So often I think, well, I

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Speaker 1: see on so often on social media people crying out

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Speaker 1: against God, like why did he allow this? But we

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Speaker 1: can cry out to him. And when we do that,

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Speaker 1: I mean He already knows all of that. We don't

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Speaker 1: have to be afraid of our herd emotions. God knows

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Speaker 1: the heart emotions of regret and guilt, the coming grief

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Speaker 1: of that, loneliness of anger, of worry and fear, And

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Speaker 1: so just bring all of that honestly to God. It

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Speaker 1: is too much for us. We were not created to

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Speaker 1: carry this, and the only way to get through is

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Speaker 1: to be able to offload this, to unburden it to God.

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Speaker 1: And it's too much for anybody in our life, any

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Speaker 1: human person. I mean, somebody might sit down with us

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Speaker 1: over coffee, we may have family walking through this, but

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Speaker 1: no one person can carry the weight of loss. And

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Speaker 1: so to continually bring it to God and know that

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Speaker 1: He sees you, that he cares for you, that He

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Speaker 1: has not overlooked you in this and that He has

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Speaker 1: a way through this valley for you.

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Speaker 2: You know we how many years ago has it been

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Speaker 2: since stand passed as we're talking today, been fourteen years?

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Speaker 2: Fourteen years? And you know you mentioned the stages of

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Speaker 2: grief and that you're still grieving in many ways, with

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Speaker 2: every holiday and every meal and all of the things.

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Speaker 2: So I think many of us feel the pressure to

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Speaker 2: move on too quickly after laws. So what encouragement would

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Speaker 2: you give to the woman who feels frustrated with her

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Speaker 2: healing journey or discouraged by how long grief seems to last.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well I get it. I can remember saying I

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Speaker 1: just wish I could just skip this because I know

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Speaker 1: God'll be faithful, but managed grueling to walk through. And

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Speaker 1: a dear friend who is now in heaven said, you

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Speaker 1: will not be who God wants you to be unless

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Speaker 1: you walk it out. And that is true for us.

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Speaker 1: God has so much for us in this place of grief.

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Speaker 1: He is going to take the pieces of your broken heart,

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Speaker 1: and he is and to put them back together in

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Speaker 1: a way that you will be different after loss, and

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Speaker 1: some of that you will look back and wish you

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Speaker 1: know it wasn't so. But in a way you will

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Speaker 1: be more like Christ. If you will allow God to

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Speaker 1: use this, you will look more like Christ. You will

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Speaker 1: be able to reflect Him in ways that you wouldn't otherwise.

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Speaker 1: And so I would say, don't rush it, don't mask it,

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Speaker 1: don't try to like self medicate it. We can do

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Speaker 1: all of those things because grief will demands to be

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Speaker 1: dealt with, and if we don't deal with it on

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Speaker 1: our terms now, it will come back on its terms later.

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Speaker 1: Trust that God knows the way He's taking you, and

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Speaker 1: that his timing. You can trust his timing in it.

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Speaker 2: So talk to us about hope growing again, and that

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Speaker 2: it's okay to hold joy and Sarah at the same time.

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Speaker 2: I imagine sometimes it maybe feels like, oh, I shouldn't

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Speaker 2: be feeling joy or happiness right now, or even hope,

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Speaker 2: like but that those feelings are actually okay.

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Speaker 1: Yes, No, you're a spot on, Rachel, because I have

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Speaker 1: heard from a lot of grievers who say they feel

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Speaker 1: like they are dishonoring their loved one as a child

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Speaker 1: or a parent, or sibiling, you know a spouse by

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Speaker 1: like laughing or enjoying something that that person was never

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Speaker 1: able to enjoy. But I would say that these pockets

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Speaker 1: of joy along the way that God gives us our

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Speaker 1: hope that life won't always feel this way. I used

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Speaker 1: to think that I was gonna have to make my

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Speaker 1: way all the way through the pain and then on

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Speaker 1: the heels of that I would experience joy again. But

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Speaker 1: what I saw was that right there, exactly as you said,

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Speaker 1: right there side by side with the pain or these

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Speaker 1: pockets of joy, and somehow we are able to experience

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Speaker 1: both those. The one of the sweetest Christmases I can

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Speaker 1: remember is that first Christmas after Dan died. And that

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Speaker 1: is uncanny to even say that to you right now.

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Speaker 1: It almost feels sacrilegious, It almost feels wrong to say.

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Speaker 1: And yet we were tucked away. We had gone away,

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Speaker 1: just my seven children and I. We were given a

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Speaker 1: cabin by an uncle. It was like decorated like Hallmark Christmas.

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Speaker 1: We were in the mountains. My youngest son had prayed

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Speaker 1: for snow for Florida kids, that it was a gift

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Speaker 1: that God brought this snow, and it was just a

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Speaker 1: sweet time together, and only God could do that. Only

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Speaker 1: God could ring these moments that we would cherish and

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Speaker 1: right and right next to our pain.

435
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,560
Speaker 2: Before we hit record, you said something that really stuck

436
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,320
Speaker 2: with me. And this isn't probably verbatim, but you said,

437
00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:29,480
Speaker 2: this isn't a book about me or my story. It's

438
00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,160
Speaker 2: it's really it's a book about God. And I love

439
00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,720
Speaker 2: your heart in that. That is your hope for this

440
00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,200
Speaker 2: book for readers is to see God in the midst

441
00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,200
Speaker 2: of it and in the midst of their own story. Right.

442
00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,160
Speaker 1: Yes, you know, in grief we can so easily fix

443
00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,720
Speaker 1: our eyes on our circumstances or fix our eyes on

444
00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,560
Speaker 1: our own self, like there's a lot of internal work

445
00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,440
Speaker 1: that has to be done, and so that's very introspective

446
00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:54,000
Speaker 1: or you know, I know for me and for so

447
00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,320
Speaker 1: many you can look out at everybody else and say, well,

448
00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:59,159
Speaker 1: like their life, they're giving the life that they wanted

449
00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,280
Speaker 1: and mine and is stuck right here in this pain.

450
00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,439
Speaker 1: But if we will fix our eyes on God, who

451
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,439
Speaker 1: is over our circumstances, that is the way through grief.

452
00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,280
Speaker 1: And so every single devotion in this book is points

453
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,600
Speaker 1: to God his character, you know, God who is with us.

454
00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:15,919
Speaker 1: God who goes before us, God who bottles my tears,

455
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,399
Speaker 1: God who my dwelling place. And it's my hope that

456
00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:21,639
Speaker 1: whatever pain somebody is feeling, they're able to turn to

457
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,520
Speaker 1: a devotion and find that God will meet them there.

458
00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,240
Speaker 2: So beautiful and so true. So on this podcast where

459
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,160
Speaker 2: we talk about love and so, is there a biblical

460
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,760
Speaker 2: concept of love that you think applies to this topic today?

461
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,480
Speaker 1: Great question. Yes. I think when we think about love

462
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,720
Speaker 1: from God maybe or anybody, we think of all the

463
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,560
Speaker 1: gifts that they've given us, how they've lavished us with gifts,

464
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:44,800
Speaker 1: and certainly that is part of God's nature. But I

465
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,160
Speaker 1: think the friend that sticks with you in the worst times,

466
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,880
Speaker 1: who is present with you in the worst of times,

467
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,080
Speaker 1: is like such a unique and special love, and that

468
00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:56,639
Speaker 1: is our God, that he is with us in the pain.

469
00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:00,080
Speaker 1: He does not remain far off. He cares for us,

470
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:04,919
Speaker 1: and that presence is just gets us from breath to

471
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:10,080
Speaker 1: breath and moment to moment until we find that we

472
00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,359
Speaker 1: have walked forward and we do have a good day,

473
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:15,080
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden we do have a

474
00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:17,680
Speaker 1: plan and we are starting to see a future. God

475
00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:19,640
Speaker 1: will love us all the way through.

476
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,000
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and you know, we talked about it's okay to

477
00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,760
Speaker 2: have joy and happiness and all of the things. So Lisa,

478
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,040
Speaker 2: tell us something you are living right now?

479
00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:30,520
Speaker 1: Ooh, something I'm living right now. Well, it's not new

480
00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,080
Speaker 1: to me, but I love a long walk. I love

481
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:35,919
Speaker 1: to get my weighted vest and go on a trail

482
00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,480
Speaker 1: around me for a long walk. I just I know

483
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,320
Speaker 1: we're supposed to wait lift. I'm trying, but there is

484
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:44,399
Speaker 1: nothing like a long walk to where I can just

485
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:46,720
Speaker 1: be out, just see the beauty of nature, kind of

486
00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,960
Speaker 1: think my own thoughts. And that just is that is

487
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:51,680
Speaker 1: medicine for me.

488
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:53,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's medicine for me too. I just got to

489
00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:57,919
Speaker 2: wait to vest well. At the recommendation of another one.

490
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,400
Speaker 1: Of our guests, yeah, I love it and I.

491
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,280
Speaker 2: Love it too, and so's that's all of our recommendation.

492
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:05,879
Speaker 2: Get outside, get some vitamin D, and put on that

493
00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:06,520
Speaker 2: weighted vest.

494
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:06,880
Speaker 1: Yeah.

495
00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,640
Speaker 2: So good. Well, I know I want to stay connected

496
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:11,480
Speaker 2: with you. I'm sure listeners are going to want to,

497
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:12,919
Speaker 2: So tell us how we can best do that.

498
00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:15,720
Speaker 1: Yes, well, you're welcome to go to my site Lisa

499
00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,200
Speaker 1: Appolo dot com. It's two p's one l You'll find

500
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,600
Speaker 1: everything there. I have some free things that go with

501
00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:24,280
Speaker 1: this book. One of the things I love is practices

502
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:28,359
Speaker 1: like physical practices and biblical science backed practices that we

503
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,760
Speaker 1: can do in grief. So it's all there for you.

504
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:32,919
Speaker 2: Yeah, and a long walk with the waited vest is

505
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:35,560
Speaker 2: that one of happens walking is on there. It is

506
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:39,679
Speaker 2: definitely yes, therapeutic for sure. Well, would you do us

507
00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:41,760
Speaker 2: the honor of praying for us as we close today?

508
00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:46,920
Speaker 1: I absolutely will. Lord. I know that as we are talking,

509
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,119
Speaker 1: Lord God, there are people listening here find themselves in

510
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,600
Speaker 1: this place of pain, and they're wondering how in the

511
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:54,840
Speaker 1: world they will get to a place where they can

512
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:58,119
Speaker 1: smile again. Or maybe somebody is walking with somebody in

513
00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:00,399
Speaker 1: that place and they're wondering how to minister, how to

514
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,360
Speaker 1: meet them. Lord, thank you that you have gone before us,

515
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:06,480
Speaker 1: that you can only go with us, but you have

516
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,600
Speaker 1: gone before us to make a way. And so I

517
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,240
Speaker 1: pray for the one who is listening that even now,

518
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,320
Speaker 1: Lor God, that she will fix her eyes on you,

519
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,719
Speaker 1: and that if she will look around or God and

520
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:20,200
Speaker 1: ask to see your hand, that she will see a

521
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,800
Speaker 1: sign of your goodness, not just one, but signs of

522
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:27,359
Speaker 1: your goodness, and your hand all around her and on you. Lord,

523
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:31,560
Speaker 1: You are our hope. Without you, we have no hope.

524
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,199
Speaker 1: Thank you, Father for laying down your life so that

525
00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:38,600
Speaker 1: we have hope, not just for this life, but for eternity. Lord,

526
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,000
Speaker 1: thank you for this conversation. May it be a blessing

527
00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 1: to the one who hears it. In your son's saying,

528
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:43,879
Speaker 1: we pray Amen.

529
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,800
Speaker 2: Amen, Lisa, Thank you. I appreciate just your authenticity and

530
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,520
Speaker 2: your wisdom and for pointing us to the God of

531
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:51,200
Speaker 2: comfort a man.

532
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:52,000
Speaker 1: Thank you for having me.

533
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,680
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for listening to the Love Offering Podcast.

534
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 2: I hope today's conversation reminded you that even in our

535
00:25:57,119 --> 00:26:00,440
Speaker 2: deepest sorrow, we are never abandoned by God. He is

536
00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:03,240
Speaker 2: near to the broken hearted, faithful in every season, and

537
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:06,560
Speaker 2: able to bring comfort, hope, and healing one step at

538
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:09,080
Speaker 2: a time. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it

539
00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:10,800
Speaker 2: with a friend and leaver of you. It helps others

540
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,359
Speaker 2: find the show and spreads the message of love even further.

541
00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:15,639
Speaker 2: To connect with me, visit me on my website at

542
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:19,119
Speaker 2: Rachelkadams dot com, where you can download the Love Always Devotional,

543
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,439
Speaker 2: a free resource to help you realize how beloved you

544
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:25,080
Speaker 2: already are, be sure to check out Lisa Applo's devotional

545
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,919
Speaker 2: God of Comfort. A special thank you to Life Audio

546
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:31,640
Speaker 2: for supporting this podcast and making it possible. To find

547
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:35,639
Speaker 2: more great podcast visitlifeaudio dot com. Until next time, let's

548
00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:37,520
Speaker 2: make our Lives an offering of